Comps were right- authentein/ authenteo can be positive and Egals were right – authentein/ authenteo can be negative!
But both are trying to fit the negative and positive pieces into the same place in the puzzle of Paul’s time, and it does not fit together like it should. It’s not a universal positive, neutral or negative, especially post-Paul! Instead, it is a confusing mix depending on who/what is being referred to when. That’s possibly part of the reason why the CRC decided on a dual position on women in church leadership! There are esoteric Gnostics and Hermetics, miscellaneous uses by writers, philosophers, editors, a businessman, and of course Christians, who all started to use it within decades of Paul. The contexts are all over the place, literally and figuratively.
Pre-Paul, the authente family is almost entirely negative and the ancient translations also give it a negative meaning. To suggest a positive meaning in Paul’s time, one has to dismiss almost all of the pre-Paul uses, ignore the ancient translations, ignore the contexts, ignore cognates, and pretty much rely on how the verb is used post Paul.
Paul and Timothy were dealing with multiple false teachings along with deceiving spirits of various cults: Jewish mythology and pagan idolatry were part of the toxic milieu, and both Gnostic and Hermetic beliefs were in beginning stages in the first century AD. These included blends of astrology, curious arts/magic, dark arts/ sorcery, mysticism, secret knowledge, along with other pagan practices that include some very dark and disturbing deeds if you believe the writings of the Didache, Church Fathers such as Clement of Alexander (a former pagan worshipper himself), and the Council of Nicaea.
The contexts of where the authente family was used might help clarify how it became confusing over the ages, as well as give insight to what Paul possibly meant. We're going to dive into one context today.
CONTEXT 1: When authente is referring to peoples’ actions/relationships, it is often a negative, domineering, lording over type of action, both pre-Paul (generally violent, murder) and post-Paul (mostly non-violent) until the 1500s.
Classical/ Attic roots (500BC-100AD): Authentēs frequently means "murderer" (especially kin-murderer) in tragedy (Euripides, Aeschylus, etc) and in legal contexts. This usage is heavily based in Athens (part of Attica hence “Attic”), Greece.
Authentas is used in the Septuagint’s Wisdom of Solomon (around 250BC) referring to parents sacrificing their children. The pagan context of idolatry and witchcraft is very similar to Ephesus in Paul’s time. The Septuagint was written in Alexandria, Egypt, one of the most learned cities of the world along with Tarsus and Athens per Strabo.
Hellenistic usage (100BC- from sources originating in Alexandria/ Upper Egypt after the Wisdom of Solomon.:
The context of usage in 3 Maccabees 2:29 (written at some point between 100BC-70AD) is hostility and persecution of the Jews in Alexandria given a choice to either be killed for refusing to register and pay taxes and homage to Egyptian gods or live with former limited status/ authentia as slaves, branded with Dionysus’ symbol, and pay taxes 3 maccabees 2 RSV - The Prayer of the High Priest Simon - Bible Gateway;
Philo Judaeus of Alexandria (Philo Det. XXI (78), 60-30 BC) uses it for self-destructive "murder" of one's better nature in his analogy of Cain and Abel. BOQ: But it is of yourself that you have become the murderer/ authentes, by destroying from out of its seat the only quality by which you could live in a blameless manner. EOQ Philo: That the Worse is Wont to Attack the Better
Tryphon’s letter (BGU 1208, 27 BCE) involves coercive/self-assertive compulsion (show someone who is boss or put them in their place in modern vernacular) regarding payment for a boat crossing of the Nile River FINAL-BGU-1208-Translation-and-Notes.pdf ;
Aristonicus Alexandrinus, a grammarian with the Library of Alexandria, includes a note/ scholia regarding “On the Signs of the Iliad”, clarifying who “authored” or “originated”/authentein the speech (27 BC).
Scholarly consensus (e.g., Westfall, Mowczko, Payne, Wilshire's TLG surveys) along with the ancient translations: When the subject is human and the object is another person, the evaluation is typically negative—implying imposition of will, harm, domination, or bullying. No clear pre-4th century examples show it as unambiguously good/beneficial for human interpersonal authority (e.g., healthy leadership). Even when not outright violent, it's often pejorative (e.g., "domineer," "override self-interest").
Wait for next week to dive into more about the other contexts for the uses of the authente!
Comments
Thank you for your deep dive into this text, Bev! It's so important to carefully study the Word of God to best understand what it means and how it can and should impact how we live.
Thanks Sarah, this is a fascinating and rich journey of God's beautiful principles for His family!
I want to share a list of how authentein has been translated in various versions of the Bible compared to how lording it over and exercise authority are translated in Matt 20:25. Interestingly it mostly lines up with the lording it over, more than the exercise authority over...
here's a fairly extensive list from about 150AD to modern versions, NOTE: general "have authority" or "exercise authority" is primarily the last 125 years, Erasmus introduced authority but qualified it with usurp as illegitimate, taken unlawfully, by force, the Geneva (1587) and King James (1611) and a few others also used usurp after that with a few using just "authority" from 1526-1903...
VERSION / TYPE / YEAR / 1 Tim 2:12 authority? / Matt 20:25 lord over / Matt 20:25 exercise authority
GREEK / ORIGINAL / 50 AD-100 AD / AUTHENTEIN / KATAKYRIEUOUSIN / KATEXOUSIAZOUSIN
Old Latin / ANCIENT / 150-250 / dominari / dominantur / petestatem exercent
Syriac / ANCIENT / 170-200 / NO TRANSLATION for authentein
Coptic / ANCIENT / 170-300 / dominate / lord over / rule harshly, dominate
Syriac Peshitta/ ANCIENT/ 300-400 / be authoritative, domineering / lord over / exercise dominion
Ethiopic / ANCIENT / 300-500 / lord over/dominate / rule over/dominate harshly / oppressive power over
Vulgate -Jerome / Latin / 400 / dominari / dominantur eorum / potestatem exercent
Armenian / ANCIENT / 410-440 / dominate/lord over / dominate/lord over / exercise power, authority
Georgian / ANCIENT / 400-600 / dominate/lord over / dominate/lord over / exercise dominion
Arabic / 867 AD / dominating/mastery over / dominate/control harshly / command imperiously
Cyril & Methodius / Old Slavonic / 863-900 / lord over, dominate / lord it over / exercise authority over
Wycliffe / ENGLISH / 1380-1384 / lordship on husband / lordis of hem / usen power on hem
Erasmus / Greek/Latin / 1516 / usurp authority / Same as Greek/Latin / Same as Greek/Latin
Tyndale / Early / 1526 / have authority / dominacio over / exercise power
Coverdale / Early / 1535 / have authority / domynacion of people / exercise power among
Bishops / Early / 1568 / usurp authority / dominion over / exercise aucthoritie
Geneva / Early / 1587 / usurp authority / have domination over / exercise authoritie
Douay Rheims / Modern / 1609 / use authority / lord it over / exercise authority over
KJV / Classic / 1611 / usurp authority / exercise dominion over / exercise authority over
Webster / Classic / 1833 / usurp authority / exercise dominion over / exercise authority over
Youngs Literal / Literal / 1862 / rule a husband / exercise lordship over / exercise authority over
English Revised / Classic / 1885 / have dominion / lord it over / exercise authority over
ASV / Classic / 1901 / have dominion / lord it over / exercise authority over
Weymouth / Modern / 1903 / have authority / lord it over / exercise authority over
New American / Modern / 1970 / have authority / domineer over / exercise authority over
NKJV / Classic / 1982 / have authority / lord it over / exercise authority over
NIV 1984 / Modern / 1984 / have authority / lord it over / exercise authority over
NRSV / Modern / 1989 / have authority / lord it over / great ones tyrants over
NASB / Modern / 1995 / exercise authority / lord it over / exercise authority over
NET / Modern / 1995 / exercise authority / lord it over / use authority over
Cont English / Modern / 1995 / tell men what to do / order people around / full power & rule over
New Heart English / Public / 2010 / exercise authority / lord it over / exercise authority over
ISV / Modern / 2011 / instigate conflict / lord it over / superiors acts as tyrants over
NIV 2011 / Modern / 2011 / assume authority / lord it over / exercise authority over / Literal SV
Literal / 2020 / rule a husband / exercise lordship over / exercise authority over
World English / Classic / 1901, 2016 / exercise authority / lord it over / exercise authority over
NASB / Modern / 1961, 1995, 2020 / exercise authority / lord it over / exercise authority over
AMP / Modern / 1965, 2015 / exercise authority / absolute power / lord over / exercise authority over
Good News / Modern / 1966, 1976 / have authority / have power over / complete authority
NASB / Modern / 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 / exercise authority / lord it over / exercise authority over
NLT / Modern / 1996, 2004, 2015 / have authority / lord it over / flaunt authority over
Holman / Modern / 1999-2009 / have authority / dominate them / exercise power over
ESV / Modern / 2001, 2016 / exercise authority / lord it over / exercise authority over
Christian Std / Modern / 2009, 2017 / have authority / lord it over / acts as tyrants over
Berean Standard / Modern / 2016, 2020 / exercise authority / lord it over / exercise authority over
Berean literal / Literal / 2016, 2020 / use authority / exercise lordship / exercise authority over
FYI some notes on pagan practices mentioned in ancient documents to give an idea of some of the things the early church wrestled with:
DIDACHE (85 AD-200 AD): The Didache in English; CH 2: you shall not practice witchcraft, you shall not murder a child by abortion nor kill that which is born. CH 3: My child, be not superstitious, since it leads to idolatry. Be neither an enchanter, nor an astrologer... CH 5: idolatries, magic arts, witchcrafts... murderers of children (ie through abandonment and exposure)...
CLEMENT OF ALEXANDRIA (202 AD): The writings of Clement of Alexandria : Clement, of Alexandria, Saint, ca. 150-ca. 215 : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet Archive ; especially chapter III The Cruelty of the Sacrifices to the gods; Exhortation to the Heathens, p48-49
COUNCIL OF NICAEA: CHURCH FATHERS: First Council of Nicaea (A.D. 325) Canon 1, there is a history here of at least several hundred years on this disturbing pagan practice and I find it interesting that this is the issue the council lists as the first canon that indicates it is still part of the problem for the early church in 325 AD, because it was part of the problem in Paul's time as well, which I have not included anywhere in the series and probably won't other than here to say the practice was also part of the toxic mess in Ephesus connected to one of the goddesses and Nicaea was still dealing with it a few hundred years later.
AUTHENTE CONTEXTS 2 & 3 up next...
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